Every piece of writing must follow a certain structure. For example, a text message is short and can contain slang. An email follows the same format as a standard letter. A paragraph is used for essays. These structures help to convey the message or overall meaning of the writing.
Poetry is no exception.
Poems are literary works that are composed in stanzas. These lines use rhythm to express emotion and ideas. Poetry is written with care. This includes elements such as sentence length, word order and even the grouping of lines. This is called 'form'. It is possible to arrange lines or entire stanzas so that the reader feels a certain emotion.
Sonnets are an example. Sonnets can be 14-line poems with a certain rhyme scheme. A great sonnet should have two lines at its end. This gives emphasis to the message and makes it more important than the rest.
The 'rhythm' is an important component of poetic structure. It refers to the beat the poem follows. The meter (sets of stressed and unstressed syllables) will be used to measure the length of the poem. Think about the rhythmic effects of music and words. What emotions is the singer displaying? Although the notes and meter might be quick at first, they will slow down as time passes. This rhythm affects the whole message.
A poet might use figurative language to achieve a particular effect. One of these methods is rhythm scheme. It uses a pattern that repeats the final sounds at the end of every sentence. The rhythm of the poem will be affected by the development of rhyme patterns. In order to emphasize the message, it is possible to repeat whole rhyming phrases throughout the poem.
Examples of poetry structure
Consider a song as an example. A chorus is a refrain, which is a series of lines that are repeated many times. These lines are the ones most people remember best. By manipulating repetition and rhyme, the writer could get their audience to recite their work repeatedly. The power of repetition and rhyme is powerful.
Here is a poem that uses rhyme.
William Wordsworth's I Wandered Solo as a Cloud
I was alone in a cloud
It floats high on top o'er hills and vales,
I was surrounded by people
A host, of golden daffodils;
Near the lake, under the foliage
Flying in the breeze and dancing.
As bright as the stars
The twinkle of the milkyway,
They stretched along an inexorable line
At the bay's margin:
Ten thousands saw I at the glance,
Moving in a sprightly dance.
They Dancing with the waves to their side, but they
Outdid the glittering waves of glee:
It's impossible for a poet to not be gay,
In such-a jocund firm:
I looked–and stared–but had little to no thoughts
What a wealth you showed me:
When I'm on my couch,
In a pensive or vacant mood,
They shine upon the inward eye
This is the blissful solitude;
My heart fills with joy,
and dances with daffodils.
Different types of poetic structures
As mentioned before, poetry's'sound' is determined by rhythm. There are many possible ways to use rhythm. But rhythm also has other elements that can be linked to poetry.
The emphasis or accent:A poem is composed of lines that contain syllables. Stressed syllables are those that have the emphasis placed on one particular syllable. Stress is the amount of emphasis given to a particular syllable.
Two syllables make up the word "candle", for example: can-dle.
The stressed syllable of the first syllable ("can") can be pronounced more strongly than the unstressed one ("dle")
Foot A foot is a term that describes a combination or unstressed syllables within a single line. Although there are many combinations possible, some combinations are more well-known than others.
Lamb: A foot with two vowels, one unstressed and another stressed in the same order. Trochee: Two syllables are used to describe a foot.
Spondee: Two syllables on a foot are considered stressed.
Anapest: A foot with three syllables.
Dactyl: A foot that has three syllables: one stressed, two unstressed.
Foot: The metric refers to how many feet are included in a particular line of poetry. One foot can be in any number, but there may be multiple feet. Certain meters are more commonly used than others.
Monometer: One foot line
Dimension: An elongated line measuring 2 feet
Trim: 3 foot line
Tetrameter: Line with 4 feet Pentameter.
An iambic pentameter is a line that has five feet. This is probably the most popular metrical pattern in poetry.
Scanning: When you read a poem, your goal is to find its metrical patterns. In order to identify the type of feet being used, you will need to look at the poem for patterns of stressed or unstressed sounds. The meter of the poems should be determined from this point.
What is form?
There are many ways to write poetry and you can use many different formats. While the meter may determine the form, it is not always the case. Sometimes the poem's content or organization will decide the form.
Stanz: A set of lines that form a poem. It is similar to the paragraph.
Queatrain: A four-line stanza.
Pairt: A two-line stanza.
Poetry: Poetry. This tells a story, similar to a folktale.
Elegy: Poetry about sadness and death.
Epic: A narrative poem.
Lyric : Poetry used for emotions.
The Narrative :A story told in a poem.
Sonnet : Typically, a sonnet contains 14 lines. There are however many types of sonnets.
Petrarchan Sonnet (or Italian Sonnet): Each line will have 14 lines written in iambic pentameter. The beginning will have an octave (a set of 8 lines), and the end will have a sestet (6 lines).
Shakespearean sonnet (or English Sonnet) will have 14 lines written in iambic Pentameter. The quatrains will consist of three lines and end with a couplet. The rhyme scheme is A-B–A-B, C–D-C–D, E–F-E–F and G,G
Structure of Poetry & Its Elements
Line: A sentence is a line within a poem. One line of words does not make a thought complete.
When you reach the end a poem's line without punctuation after the last words, you don't have to pause. Simply navigate to next line and go on reading.
In the poem Annabel Leeby Edgar Allen Poe you wouldn't stop reading after the last line. Instead, you would continue reading until the punctuated end.
It took many years to get here.
In the kingdom by sea,
You may have known a maiden from that area.
By Annabel Le;
This maiden lived without any other thoughts
I love you and want to be loved.
She was a little girl and I was a kid,
In the kingdom by sea,
However, our love was more that love–
My Annabel Lee and I–
With the love of the winged seraphs from Heaven
I adore her.
This was why was created so long ago.
In the kingdom by sea,
Wind blowing out from a cloud to chill
My beautiful Annabel;
Her highborn kinsmen were
And took her away,
To put her in a tomb
In that kingdom by sea.
Not half as happy in Heaven are the angels
She envied me and she envious of me–
Yes, that was the reason.
In the kingdom by The Sea)
The wind rose from the clouds by night,
Killing my Annabel Lee and Chilling.
But it was more than the love
Of those who were older than us–
Many are wiser than us–
And the angels above
Neither the demons below the sea
Is able to ever separate my soul and the soul
By Annabel Lee,
The moon does not shine, but it brings me dreams
By Annabel Lee,
While the stars may never rise, I see the brighter side
By Annabel Lee,
So, all night, I lay down at the side
My darling – my darling – my life and my bride
In a sepulchre at the sea–
In her grave by the sounding ocean.
